Nov. 22, 2013
|

BREAKING NEWS / Jerry Mosemak, USA TODAY

by Doug Stanglin and Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

by Doug Stanglin and Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LONDON - Three "highly traumatized" women have been rescued from a house in south London where they were apparently held captive in "domestic slavery" for three decades, Scotland Yard said Thursday.

Police said the youngest captive - a 30-year-old British woman -- had had no contact with the outside world for her entire life.

Two suspects - a 67-year-old man and a 67-year-old woman - were arrested Thursday at the home, Scotland Yard said in a statement. The two suspects, who are not British nationals, have been given bail until January, police said Friday.

The three women, including a 69-year-old Malaysian woman and a 57-year-old Irish woman, were rescued from a residence in London's Lambeth Borough on Oct. 25 by detectives from Scotland Yard's Human Trafficking Unit. Police said the victims are not believed to be related to each other, the Daily Mirror reported.

"All three women, who were highly traumatized, were taken to a place of safety where they remain," Detective Inspector Kevin Hyland, from the Human Trafficking Unit, told reporters.

Hyland said his unit had dealt with many cases of servitude and forced labor before, including people held as long as 10 years, "but we have never seen anything of this magnitude before."

He said he is not sure where the youngest captive was born "but she appears to have been in servitude for her entire life."

The three, who had some "controlled freedom" during the captivity, were rescued after one of them phoned Freedom Charity, which works on issues involving forced marriages, and began plotting their escape.

Police indicated that the rescue, originally set in motion in October, took about a week to pull off. The women had to be convinced in secret phone calls that it was safe to leave the house.

Aneeta Prem, founder of Freedom Charity, said the three women were in effect kept in "domestic slavery" and felt they were not allowed to leave the house because of their fear of the two suspects.

"One of they key things that has come up is that these three ladies were absolutely terrified by these people," she told Sky News, saying the two suspects appeared to have acted as "the heads of the family."

Prem said the three appear to have undergone physical and mental abuse, but that there was no indication of a sexual abuse during the captivity.

Hyland, from the Human Trafficking Unit, said one of the captives called for help after viewing a TV documentary on forced marriages relating to the work of Freedom Charity, The Guardian reported.

Prem said the women had to make calls to Freedom Charity in secret and at set times because "they felt like they were in massive danger."

"With the help of the police we were able to get them out," she said.

An unidentified neighbor told The Press Association that the couple in the house "just kept themselves to themselves."

"They were a very nice couple," the neighbor said. "They just seemed a very normal couple. I just know it's very unfortunate."